Hal Bohn

“Born in Illinois, my first serious artistic efforts were at the Chicago Art Institute; 1953-55. Then, using my GI Bill stipend I continued my studies at the Otis Art Institute in L.A., 1957-62. In 1960 I changed my painting major to ceramics, after being taken up with the excitement being generated in the ceramics department by “abstract expressionist” sculptor Peter Voulkas, the instructor, and Paul Soldner, a student of his. (Together they developed the prototype of the electric wheel). I did my thesis work in “functional sculpture” and received by MFA in 1962.

'“I stopped making pottery in 1977 to devote my time to oil painting, watercolors, pastels, figure drawing and wood sculpture. In 2007 I started ceramics again at LBCC with Leslie Green, hand building functional sculptures and doing raku firings, then switched to Ted Ernst’s “clay exploration” evening classes and took up throwing again. I enjoy and benefit from the unique camaraderie of the instructors and students enrolled in the ceramics department at LBCC.

“To me, a thrown shape is a blank canvas, waiting to have more clay added to, altered, carved and colored. The subject matter of my work is mostly figurative, in series of variations on a common theme as I explore its potential. Most of my pieces take weeks or months to complete.

“Three current interests are: 1. Spray coating the smooth stone burnished exterior of my pieces with a heavy coating of iron oxide, then after the final firing, adding a patina to the surface by using an electric drill with a wire brush to bring the surface to a lustrous sheen. 2.  Making and carving porcelain objects so thin they are translucent. 3.  Drawing human features, animals and birds on a pure white smooth porcelain surface; I wet a sable brush then dip it into a small bowl of very fine black under-glaze, shaved from a pencil, and applied as a wash, it is absorbed into the surface of the clay in a semi-stable form; it can be moved around or removed with water and brush. I use metal tools to draw white lines through the under glaze, shade, and scrape. When finished it is thinly coated with a clear glaze.

“My current inspirations are historical, exploring and gleaning ideas from photos of artifacts from all of the accessible world cultures.”